Thank you to everyone who took the time to share their feedback for the new playground at Winton Road Reserve.
We’re excited to share the final design with you, which has been shaped by 2 rounds of community consultation.
We
expect to start building the new playground from early-2025. Select the
'Follow' button at the top of this page to stay up to date on construction progress or visit the Winton Road Reserve playground upgrade page.
The final nature-themed design
You can view the final design by selecting the hotspots in the map below.
Why we're building a new playground
We’re upgrading the Winton Road Reserve playground to:
- improve accessibility
- increase nature play opportunities
- better meet the needs of children and families, now and into the future.
The current playground was built in 2004. We’ve prioritised this playground to be updated as some equipment is aging and some posts in the main timber play structures are starting to rot.
Community consultation
First stage of consultation
In November to December 2023, we invited you to participate in a survey so that we could better understand:
- what you like about the current playground
- what play equipment you would like to keep
- what you'd like to see added or improved.
We heard from 78 community members during the consultation. We used your feedback to create a draft design for the new playground.
- 71 people participated in an online survey
- 4 people shared their feedback by uploading pictures or short comments to the consultation page
- 3 children shared a drawing of their 'dream playground' with us.
- We reached over 6,000 Facebook and Instagram accounts.
- 400 postcards were distributed to houses that are located within 250 metres of the playground.
- We placed signs around the playground, with a QR code to the consultation page.
- We directly reached out to local schools, kindergartens and childcare centres for their feedback.
- We promoted the consultation to thousands of community members who subscribe to the Boroondara Libraries newsletter.
- We also placed posters around our local libraries to encourage people to have their say.
- The consultation featured in the 'have your say' column in the December / January edition of the Boroondara Bulletin. The Boroondara Bulletin is our community magazine and contains information on news and events in our city. We also mentioned the consultation in the December Solway Ward Newsletter.
You shared lots of great insights with us about how you, your child or your family use the playground.
We heard:
Swings: You prefer that we keep the same style of swings that are at the current playground. Current play equipment: You want us to keep most of the play equipment and upgrade it to meet Australian standards. A playground for everyone to enjoy: You want the playground to be suitable for kids of different ages. Sensory play: You'd like us to include more sensory play in the new design, such as nature play Natural elements: There was strong support to design a playground that complements the natural surroundings. New nature play area: 71% of respondents (51 people) said they would like to see the former Food Forest incorporated into the playground as an extended nature play space.
Second stage of consultation
Between March and April 2024, we asked you for feedback on the draft design for the playground to make sure it was on the right track.
We heard from 46 community members during the consultation.
- 42 people participated in an online survey.
- people attended a drop-in session at the playground.
We shared the consultation across our Facebook and Instagram accounts. 400 letters were distributed to houses that are located within 250 metres of the playground. We directly emailed community members who opted-in for more information about the playground upgrade through Your Say Boroondara. We placed signs around the playground, with a QR code to the consultation page. We held a drop-in session at the playground, where community members could come and chat with a council officer about the design. We directly reached out to local schools, kindergartens and childcare centres for their feedback. We promoted the consultation to thousands of community members who subscribe to the Boroondara Libraries newsletter. The consultation featured in the 'have your say' column in the April / May edition of the Boroondara Bulletin. The Boroondara Bulletin is our community magazine and contains information on news and events in our city. We mentioned the consultation in the April Solway Ward Newsletter.
Our community told us they were most excited by (in order of popularity):
- the track glide and monkey bars
- nature play trail with steppers
- nature play cubby and shop front
- junior and senior play unit
- double swing set.
What you asked us to consider in the final design
During the second round of consultation in April 2024, we received valuable feedback on the draft design.
The key updates you asked us to consider for the final design were:
-
Early years learning opportunities
"Whatever Council does to update the playground and Food Forest, creating opportunities for children to learn about indigenous culture, sustainability and food during play is a good step."
-
More natural features in the design
"It feels like the nature play isn't incorporated. It feels like [a] metal playground stuck in the middle of trees.”
-
Different swing options
“Would be great to have a double swing ... an adult seat and baby seat that swing together."
Updates to the final design based on community feedback
We’ve listened to your feedback and made updates to several features in the playground design.
You can view these features in more detail on our hotspot map.
What is not included in the final design
Our community shared some great ideas for the new design, but there are a few things that we can't include.
This is generally because Winton Road Reserve is classified as a ‘local’ playground. This means some features fall out of scope and budget for this playground in our Playground Redevelopment Strategy. Read more about this on our Upgrading Boroondara’s playgrounds page.
The following elements will not be included as part of this playground upgrade:
- Water and sand play - these elements can be found in District and Regional playgrounds.
